Sri Lanka notes

It’s a lovely country to visit. It is exotic, quite safe (these days), and it’s much cleaner than I had been expecting. Both of my guidebooks claim the food is mediocre, but you can find excellent Sri Lankan dishes by going to small restaurants and paying less than a dollar (the actual restaurant scene does seem underdeveloped, though the places in the Cinnamon Grand are quite good). Just look for places where everyone is eating with their hands.

Order any vegetarian dish with cashews or a cashew sauce.

The place feels like an odd mix of Thailand and, of all places, Curacao. The old capital, Kandy, is vaguely reminiscent of Nara, Japan in its overall presentation and its feel of Buddhist classicism.

They actually also have ordinary coconuts. The orange one is a King coconut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_coconut), but in singhalese it has it´s own name, different from the ordinary coconut. They use the ordinary coconut for their national alcoholic drink Arrack.

Yep – this is quite amazing. I remember spending quite a bit of time at a park in Kandy and many people enjoyed picnicking there. To my surprise, there were no public trash cans (Indian parks have plenty, they’re just not used). But unlike its neighbor to the northwest, citizens specifically brought their own trash bag to keep the park spotless. The comparison with Japan is apt in more than just a religious sense.

But when my family take Sri Lankan visitors to a park in Australia, we often have to make sure they don’t go chucking litter into the forest, as they would at home. I guess there are shades of litterbugness.

It think it’s mostly population density. Not averaged over the whole landmass, but concentrating big cities. Colombo has 1-2 million people, it’s denser than most (all?) Australian cities, and maybe even denser than European cities, but compared to the Indian giants?

If you’re still in Sri Lanka then I highly recommend making your way up to Sigiriya. One of the most amazing sites I’ve come across, and still far off of the tourist (specifically, European and East Asian) tourist routes.

I can’t believe anywhere would describe Sri Lankan food as mediocre. It is possibly my favorite cuisine anywhere. Pineapple curry, bitter gourd curry, beet curry, the fish dishes, you just need to find the right holes in the wall. We had some home (servant) cooked meals that were amazing, but even the simple hostels we stayed at had amazing food. Alas, the food doesn’t export well as doing it right is so labor intensive.

Agree–Sri Lankan food in Staten Island is better than Aindiqn crap at same price in Manhattan, and equal to Indian food at ten times the price wt the handful of Manhattan eateries that do indian food right. Why this is puzzles me, but it is true to me and all themguests I have brought to Staten Island!!